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Just when I thought I’ve seen it all! What we are looking at is a 1977 Mercedes-Benz 300D that somehow was transformed into a strangely proportioned coupe. According to the seller, the body was modified by removing the rear doors, moving fuel tank and fuel door two feet forward, and extended the trunk lid two feet. Try to wrap your head around that. On top of that, this car already exists and Mercedes made of ton of them! Unless this car was modified right in 1977 when it came out, it made no sense why someone would do this. But here it is, in all its mis-proportioned glory. Just to make it even stranger, it is powered by a 1983 OM617 Turbodiesel engine. Let’s take a look:
Was last week’s 1986 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 too much of a project for you? Yeah, I don’t blame you either. That was a little too far gone for most pallets. However, today we have a much less intensive project.
This is a 1979 Mercedes-Benz 300TD. The legendary wagon that will never fail unless you let it sit for years and the fuel turns to mush. If you thought that was really specific, then you are right. For as good as this car looks in the photos, it supposedly does not run and hasn’t been started in two years. You might be saying how does that happen, but the Bentley Bentayga in the background probably helps to explains it. Still, this car looks really good and is claimed to have just a little over 46,000 miles. Is it worth the gamble?
When I really sit and the think about it, the W123 Mercedes-Benz chassis is not the most beautiful thing ever to roll out of Stuttgart. Especially considering they were producing some of the most beautifully styled coupes only a few years prior and basically every year since the start of the company up until this point. The W123 was total functionality, and did its best to look good as an afterthought. See one randomly parked among today’s blobs of cars? Sure, you can call it handsome. It’s making the best of what cards were dealt. The big bumpers are there to take a 5-mph impact. The squared-off taillights with a wavy design? Mercedes-Benz consulted a team of optometrists to study which taillight design is easier to be seen by the eyes in the dark and wet. Those taillights are what went on the car. The list goes on and on. Mercedes built a car with the intention to last forever and it sure is doing a good job so far.
This 1982 300CD up for sale in Los Angeles can be one of those “forever” cars. Enough miles to not think one second about not driving it in fear of devaluing the car, but not so many that its ready for taxi duty in the Middle East. The condition is bordering on outstanding, and the price? Well, its not cheap, but thankfully not too crazy.
Color is everything. Kind of a broad statement, I know, but when it comes to classic Mercedes-Benz, it is pretty important. Light Ivory, Astral Silver, or Pastel Beige? Okay colors, but no one is clamoring over them. Henna Red, Mimosa Yellow, or today’s car, China Blue? Now people are excited. In all seriousness, I do see a fair amount of price different between two comparable cars with one painted something bright, with the other a little more drab. It just so happens that this 1981 300SD up for sale in Atlanta is one of the few to be painted in the aforementioned China Blue. So that begs the question, how much of a premium will this bring?
As I get older and my head gains an alarming amount of grey hairs, my patience and desire for “projects” is growing thin. I have no problem working on cars, but my time seems to be sucked up by other things that aren’t getting covered in diesel fuel when changing a pre-filter. This is leads me away from saying things like “Oh, this car on Craigslist only needs $2,900 in parts and 10 hours of labor. I can swing that”. Instead, I’m finding myself just clicking the back button and not even considering cars that aren’t nearly turn-key.
Thankfully there are a handful of older cars out there that are still turn-key and need very little. This 1979 Mercedes-Benz 300CD up for sale in Oregon might just be one of those. It certainly looks like a time capsule both inside and out, as well as the most important area, under the hood. I wish this one wasn’t 3,000 miles away.
